Yesterday, I held a Growing Little Leaves program at the Indiana Historical Society about French heritage and Indiana's historical French connections.
It is believed that the first Europeans to travel the land that is now Indiana were French fur traders and explorers in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. They established profitable trade relationships with the Native Americans, and it was not uncommon for the French traders to intermarry with the local tribes. In fact, the last principal chief of the unified Miami tribe, Francis La Fontaine (or 'Topeah' in his native tongue) had a French grandfather by the name of Peter LaFontaine.
After the British took control of the region in the 1760s, they renamed many of the settlements and landscape features, but the French influence remained in a few place names. Terre Haute is French for 'high land.' LaPorte is French for 'the door,' and is said to have been named so by French explorers due to the area's natural opening out of the dense tree cover of indigenous forests. The city of Vincennes, in southwestern Indiana, was established in 1732 and is the oldest continually inhabited European settlement in Indiana. Small groups of French immigrants continued to arrive in Indiana in the 19th century, as well. According to U.S. Census data, in 1850, French immigrants were living in 66 Indiana counties, and many Indiana counties were also home to Canadian immigrants who traced their ancestry back to France.
For this program, we had several stations set up with crafts, games, and activities relating to French heritage and history in Indiana.
We had a history station, where I had this map of New France in 1750 (source), along with copies (and translations) of French fur trading contracts, the originals of which are located in the Indiana Historical Society's collections. I also had a world atlas out, so kids could find France on a map and see its proximity in the world with respect to North America.
It is believed that the first Europeans to travel the land that is now Indiana were French fur traders and explorers in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. They established profitable trade relationships with the Native Americans, and it was not uncommon for the French traders to intermarry with the local tribes. In fact, the last principal chief of the unified Miami tribe, Francis La Fontaine (or 'Topeah' in his native tongue) had a French grandfather by the name of Peter LaFontaine.
After the British took control of the region in the 1760s, they renamed many of the settlements and landscape features, but the French influence remained in a few place names. Terre Haute is French for 'high land.' LaPorte is French for 'the door,' and is said to have been named so by French explorers due to the area's natural opening out of the dense tree cover of indigenous forests. The city of Vincennes, in southwestern Indiana, was established in 1732 and is the oldest continually inhabited European settlement in Indiana. Small groups of French immigrants continued to arrive in Indiana in the 19th century, as well. According to U.S. Census data, in 1850, French immigrants were living in 66 Indiana counties, and many Indiana counties were also home to Canadian immigrants who traced their ancestry back to France.
For this program, we had several stations set up with crafts, games, and activities relating to French heritage and history in Indiana.
We had a history station, where I had this map of New France in 1750 (source), along with copies (and translations) of French fur trading contracts, the originals of which are located in the Indiana Historical Society's collections. I also had a world atlas out, so kids could find France on a map and see its proximity in the world with respect to North America.
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One of the stations included some kid-friendly French language books and coloring pages.
At another station, I had red, white, and blue Legos for creating the French flag.
I had found this cute little vintage Eiffel Tower paper cut-out template, and I had a station for making those. You can download this craft from Flickr at this link.
As I did with the recent Italian heritage program, I created a memory game with French-English food words. Click on the image below, if you'd like to download for your use. My 6 year old daughter and I played several rounds and she enjoyed it.
My daughter's favorite activity of the day was coloring and cutting a Paris paper city, which you can download for free at this link.
And, of course, I had copies of my 'My French Ancestor' worksheets for anyone with French ancestry. These can be downloaded from my Ancestor Worksheet page.
Unfortunately, this was the final Growing Little Leaves program at the Indiana Historical Society. Thanks to all who have supported and attended the programs. I do intend to keep sharing ideas on this blog and may explore other options for children's programming.
©2017, Emily Kowalski Schroeder
©2017, Emily Kowalski Schroeder
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